Support network

• US 7,076,400 B2
• Filed: 02/14/2001
• Issued: 07/11/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 02/14/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Nextnine Incorporated (Honeywell International Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Nextnine Incorporated (Honeywell International Inc.)
• Inventors: Levonai, Gil, Minzer, Oren, Maniv, Eldad, Dulberg, Adi, Elkayam, Ronny
• Primary Examiner(s): Hoff, Marc S.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Suarez, Felix
• Application Number:
  US10/203,865
• Publication Number:
  US 20030005107A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,973 Days
• Field of Search: 701179-183, 701188-190, 707/4, 709/223, 717/121, 702/184
• US Class Current: 702/184
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3644 by instrumenting at runtime
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/366 using diagnostics G06F11/0703 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/54 Interprogram communication
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0213 Standardised network management protocols, e.g. simple network management protocol [SNMP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/046 comprising network management agents or mobile agents therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0631 using root cause analysis; using analysis of correlation between notifications, alarms or events based on decision criteria, e.g. hierarchy, tree or time analysis
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0803 Configuration setting
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0853 by actively collecting configuration information or by backing up configuration information
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0856 by backing up or archiving configuration information
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0869 Validating the configuration within one network element
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0879 Manual configuration through operator
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0886 Fully automatic configuration
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]

Abstract

A method of device maintenance including determining that maintenance should be performed on a target device, automatically selecting a maintenance process including at least one maintenance task to effect said maintenance, automatically managing said maintenance process on a maintenance server separate from said target device, said maintenance server adapted to manage maintenance processes for a plurality of devices, said managing including at least monitoring the execution of said process and automatically performing at least one said maintenance-related task to effect at least a portion of said maintenance of said target device.

Claims

1. A method of device maintenance, comprising:

determining that maintenance should be performed on a target device;

automatically selecting a maintenance process, located on the target device from before determining that maintenance should be performed, including at least one maintenance-related task, to effect said maintenance;

automatically managing said maintenance process on a maintenance server separate from said target device, said maintenance server adapted to manage maintenance processes for a plurality of devices, said managing including at least monitoring the execution of said process; and

automatically performing at least one of said at least one maintenance-related task to effect at least a portion of said maintenance of said target device.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein automatically managing comprises automatically recording an effect of said maintenance process on said target device.

3. A method according to claim 2, wherein automatically managing comprises modifying said maintenance process by said maintenance server in response to said effect.

4. A method according to claim 1, wherein automatically managing comprises controlling a time duration of said maintenance process by said maintenance server.

5. A method according to claim 1, wherein automatically managing comprises generating a series of maintenance tasks by said maintenance server.

6. A method according to claim 1, wherein at least two of said plurality of devices are located at a same site.

7. A method according to claim 1, wherein at least two of said plurality of devices are located at different, unassociated, sites.

8. A method according to claim 1, wherein at least part of said maintenance server is located at a same site as said target device.

9. A method according to claim 1, wherein at least part of said maintenance server is located at a different site from said target device.

10. A method according to claim 9, wherein said maintenance server and said target device are separated by a firewall.

11. A method according to claim 1, wherein said maintenance server comprises a centralized server.

12. A method according to claim 1, wherein said maintenance server comprises a plurality of distributed components.

13. A method according to claim 12, wherein said plurality of distributed components is arranged in a hierarchical structure.

14. A method according to claim 1, wherein said determining is performed by said maintenance server.

15. A method according to claim 1, wherein said selecting is performed by said maintenance server.

16. A method according to claim 1, wherein said performing is performed by said maintenance server.

17. A method according to claim 1, wherein at least one of said performing, said selecting, and said determining is performed by at least two physically separated components that cooperate as a distributed system.

18. A method according to claim 1, wherein each of said performing, said selecting, and said determining is performed by a non-distributed component.

19. A method according to claim 1, wherein said determining is performed by said target device or a dedicated agent associated with said target device.

20. A method according to claim 1, wherein said performing is performed by said target device or a dedicated agent associated with said target device.

21. A method according to claim 1, wherein at least one of said determining, said selecting and said performing is performed by a site server associated with a plurality of devices located at a same site as said target device.

22. A method according to claim 21, wherein at least two of said determining, said selecting and said performing is performed by said site server.

23. A method according to claim 1, wherein said performing comprises automatically performing said at least one task.

24. A method according to claim 1, wherein said selecting comprises selecting from a plurality of available maintenance processes.

25. A method according to claim 1, wherein said selecting comprises tailoring a maintenance processes.

26. A method according to claim 1, wherein said selecting comprises selecting in response to a previous maintenance history of said target device.

27. A method according to claim 1, wherein said maintenance process comprises acquiring data from said target device and then diagnosing a fault based on said data.

28. A method according to claim 1, wherein said maintenance process comprises iteratively acquiring data from said target device and analyzing said data to determine additional data useful for diagnosing said target device.

29. A method according to claim 1, wherein said maintenance process comprises testing at least one potential repair method on said target device to select a desirable repair method and then applying said desirable repair method on said target device.

30. A method according to claim 1, wherein said maintenance process comprises testing at least one potential repair method on a different device from said target device to select a desirable repair method for said target device and then applying said desirable repair method on said target device.

31. A method according to claim 1, wherein said determining comprises analyzing a log acquired by said target device, when said target device detects a potentially problematic operational state.

32. A method according to claim 31, wherein said log is stored by a site server associated with a plurality of devices located at a same site as said target device, and available for use even if said target device is crashed.

33. A method according to claim 1, wherein determining that maintenance should be performed comprises receiving an alert to a fault condition of said target device.

34. A method according to claim 33, wherein said alert is provided for action with a set of data associated with said alert.

35. A method according to claim 34, wherein said data is stored in a distributed manner.

36. A method of device maintenance, comprising:

determining that maintenance should be performed on a target device;

automatically selecting a maintenance process including at least one maintenance-related task to effect said maintenance;

automatically managing said maintenance process on a maintenance server separate from said target device, said maintenance server adapted to manage maintenance processes for a plurality of devices, said managing including at least monitoring the execution of said process; and

automatically performing at least one of said at least one maintenance-related task to effect at least a portion of said maintenance of said target device,

wherein said performing comprises manually performing a task.

37. A method of device maintenance, comprising:

determining, by a target device, that maintenance-related tasks generated specifically for the target device by a separate entity, may be available for said target device; and

seeking by said target device of the maintenance-related tasks; and

performing of said maintenance-related tasks by said target device to effect maintenance of said target device.

38. A method according to claim 37, wherein said seeking comprises polling a mailbox in which a maintenance provider deposits maintenance tasks.

39. A method according to claim 38, comprising depositing a response to said task in said mailbox by said target device.

40. A method according to claim 38, comprising depositing device data in said mailbox by said target device.

41. A method according to claim 40, wherein said target device data comprises log data collected based on a task previously collected by said target device as a result of a previous seek.

42. A method according to claim 40, comprising analyzing said target device data remotely from said target device.

43. A method according to claim 40, comprising generating a further maintenance related task by said entity, in response to said target device data.

44. A method according to claim 41, wherein said data is sufficient for diagnosis of said target device without retrieving additional data from said target device.

45. A method according to claim 38, wherein said mailbox is a personal mailbox for said target device.

46. A method according to claim 37, wherein said entity that generates said maintenance-related tasks comprises an automatic maintenance server.

47. A method according to claim 37, wherein said seeking comprises seeking at a communication server.

48. A method according to claim 37, wherein said seeking comprises seeking via a site server associated with a plurality of devices located at a same site as said target device.

49. A method according to claim 37, wherein said seeking comprises seeking via a dedicated agent associated with said target device.

50. A method according to claim 37, wherein said target device is protected by a firewall from said entity.

51. A method according to claim 50, wherein said seeking uses a protocol that bypasses said firewall.

52. A method according to claim 51, wherein said protocol comprises a HTTP protocol.

53. A method according to claim 51, comprising emulating a device maintenance protocol that is normally blocked by said firewall, using said seeking.

54. A method according to claim 53, wherein said protocol comprises at least one of Telnet, SNMP and CMIP.

55. A method of device maintenance, comprising:

determining that maintenance should be performed on a target device;

automatically selecting a maintenance process including at least one maintenance-related task to effect said maintenance;

automatically managing said maintenance process on a maintenance server separate from said target device, said maintenance server adapted to manage maintenance processes for a plurality of devices, said managing including at least monitoring the execution of said process; and

automatically performing at least one of said at least one maintenance-related task to effect at least a portion of said maintenance of said target device,

wherein the determination that the maintenance should be performed is carried out without relation to the selected maintenance process.

56. A method according to claim 55, wherein selecting the maintenance process comprises selecting a process hosted by the target device.

57. A method according to claim 55, comprising transmitting the selected maintenance process from the maintenance server to the target device.

58. A method according to claim 55, wherein selecting the maintenance process comprises selecting a process including at least one diagnosis task adapted to collect information on the target device.

59. A method according to claim 55, wherein the determination that the maintenance should be performed is carried out before selecting the maintenance process.

60. A method of device maintenance, comprising:

determining that maintenance should be performed on a target device;

automatically selecting a maintenance process including at least one diagnosis task to effect said maintenance;

automatically managing said maintenance process on a maintenance server separate from said target device, said maintenance server adapted to manage maintenance processes for a plurality of devices, said managing including at least monitoring the execution of said process;

automatically performing at least one said diagnosis task to collect data from said target device; and

diagnosing a fault not related to the selected maintenance process, responsive to the acquired data.

61. A method according to claim 60, wherein the fault is identified on the target device before the maintenance process is run on the target device.